Daddy-O

(click to enlarge).

My dad is at it again! The annual "Dinner on the Pond" starts this Saturday evening and is sure to be a great time! If you are interested in an evening of delicious food, great company, and beautiful scenery, click here and join us!

i really really really want this...

really.

If you just so happen to be in the business of making my wildest dreams come true, you can buy it here.

Special Birthday Quilt

Is it lame to blog about something I did 5 months ago?

Probably. Oh, well.


So Sela turned 2 in April, and for months I agonized over the perfect gift. Something to treasure, something sweet, something handmade, and something not emblazoned with Disney princesses. Luckily i remembered this little gem of an idea spotted on The Small Object around Christmas time. Simply type up a letter in Photoshop in the dimensions of your quilt(mine was 1 yard by 2 yards) + follow a few tips from Spoonflower, upload your design, and in 2 weeks you have a sweet note ready to line the inside of a special birthday quilt for a very special birthday girl.



And since I'm the nosiest person I know, and it almost killed me not knowing what Sarah's letter said, I'm including my letter to Sela for any fellow snoops out there:

My Dearest Sela,

As I look at you now, there is only a whisper of the wrinkly newborn face that peered into my own and changed my heart forever. Your chubbies have long since gone and your wobbly legs have grown strong and sure. You are a marvel. An absolute wonder. You are full of every good, wonderful, and lovely thing I have ever known or could have hoped for. You're beautiful, brave, and true; always stubborn, endlessly determined, with a heart open to the whole wide world.

Happy Birthday to you, baby girl.

Misses, wishes, and kisses. Love, Mama

P.S. Always remember: "I carry your heart(I carry it in my heart)"

hello, world...

Graham Emery Swan was born at home on July 17th. He weighed 8 lbs.(!!!) and was 20 inches long. His birth was absolutely beautiful. Fast, peaceful, gentle, and in my very own bathtub. He is quiet, sleepy, and incredibly curious. We love him to the moon-y moon moon(as Sela would say).


This little guy has changed every aspect of our life so far and we are still trying to find our footing. The adjustment has been the hardest for Sela, and my heart broke 100 times a day for the first few weeks as I watched her struggle with her new world. She would look at me like I was a traitor, her eyes quietly saying, "remember when you said you loved me the most? remember when you rocked me and kissed me and every second of every day was spent building a special little place in the world for just you and me?" I would cry and hold my beautiful daughter, so sorry that this is so hard to understand, so sorry she had to accept a new place in our family, and so sorry that things would never ever be the same.

But we are working it out. Everyday is getting a little better, easier.

The other evening as I watched Graham snoozing on Brian's chest, curled up and content, and my naked 2 year old running around my disaster of living room with her imaginary friends, Lilo and Stitch, I couldn't believe how much I love this messy, crazy life. Even with leaky boobs and this stretched out, exhausted body, I am happy.


How lucky we are to open our bodies, hearts, and lives just a little more, and surrender to change and the temporary insanty, all for the sake of love.

p.s. a few of you have asked about the new blog, For The Littles. It's mostly just to help me remember what I want to get the kiddos for Christmas and the like. You're welcome to take a peek, but I can't promise that it will be exciting or regularly updated.